Cilla Black's death may have been an accident

An accident may have contributed to Cilla Black's death.

Cilla Black's death may have been the result of an accident at home, Spanish police say.

Tributes are flowing for the British entertainment, following her death at the age of 72. Her close friends included Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Paul McCartney and Christopher Biggins.

A spokeswoman from the high court of justice in Andalucía, which is investigating Black's death, said it was likely the singer had died naturally, but an accident may have contributed.

However, she told the Guardian that no firm conclusions had yet been drawn.

Results from the postmortem examination are yet to be released.

"From the facts that the police brought to the judge, there is no indication that would suggest any kind of violence precipitated her death," the spokeswoman said.

"There were no objects that had been disturbed in her home, there were no signs of violence on her body. This needs to be confirmed by the postmortem, but the evidence gathered by the police suggests that she died of natural causes, but that her death might have been provoked by an accident.

"At this stage, we can't know if she banged into something and this provoked her death - these are just theories at this point. But with what we know up until now, we can say that there is no suggestion she suffered any kind of violence."

Black started out as a teenager singing and working in the cloakroom of the Cavern Club in Liverpool. She later moved into music and television with the '60s icon enjoying a 50-year career.

- nzherald.co.nz